STATE OF COLORADO

GOVERNOR’S OFFICE OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

TELECOMMUNICATION AND VOICE SERVICES

RFP Number RFP-2015000224

Procurement Office (Purchasing and Contracts) 601 East 18th Avenue, Suite 150 Denver, CO 80203

OIT_purchasing@state.co.us Table of Contents

REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS SIGNATURE PAGE

RFP INFORMATION

SUBMIT INQUIRIES & SEALED PROPOSALS TO:

Governor’s Office of Information Technology (OIT) Procurement Office 601 E 18th Ave., Suite 150 Denver, CO 80203

PETER VAN RONK

303.764.7938

OITpurchasing@state.co.us

Submit one (1) Original, one (1) Electronic copy, one (1) Electronic (redacted) copy and eleven (5) Hard Copies to the address above.

OFFEROR’S CONTACT INFORMATION

COMPANY NAME:

CONTACT:

STREET ADDRESS:

PHONE:

CITY/STATE/ZIP:

E-MAIL:

FEIN:

OFFEROR’S AUTHORIZED SIGNATURE

AUTHORIZED SIGNATURE:

PRINTED NAME:

TITLE:

IMPORTANT

The following information must be on the OUTSIDE of the sealed RFP response:

RFP Number and RFP Submission Deadline

RETURN THIS PAGE WITH YOUR RESPONSE

TELECOMMUNICATION AND VOICE SERVICES

RFP NUMBER RFP-2015000224

Schedule of Activities

(MTN STD TIME)

(www.gssa.state.co.us/vensols)

Prospective Offerors Written Inquiry Deadline (No questions accepted after this date/time; e-mail preferred)

(www.gssa.state.co.us/vensols)

The resulting contract may be renewed for four (4) additional one-year annual renewal terms, at the sole discretion of the State.

Administrative Information This Request for Proposals (“RFP”) is issued by the State of Colorado, Governor’s Office of Information Technology (“OIT"), Procurement Office, for the benefit of the State of Colorado (“State”).

The purpose of this RFP is to procure Telecommunication and Voice Services Issuing Office The OIT Procurement Office and Purchasing Agent listed on the Request for Proposals Signature Page is the sole point of contact concerning this RFP. All communication must be done through the OIT Procurement Office.

Colorado VSS and registration The State of Colorado has transitioned to a new financial management system called the Colorado Operations Resource Engine (CORE). Solicitations for most State Agencies (Agencies) and State Institutions of Higher Education (Institutions) will be posted on a new website, ColoradoVSS.

Solicitation details for goods and services, as well as construction notices on ColoradoVSS are public and do not require registration; however, any updates or modifications to this Request for Proposal (RFP) will be published using ColoradoVSS, so it is important to be registered. There is no cost to register on ColoradoVSS. ). It is very important that Offerors check ColoradoVSS on a regular basis, as this is the sole means for communicating any clarifications or changes to RFP content and/or requirements.

To become a registered supplier on ColoradoVSS:

https://codpa-vss.hostams.com/webapp/PRDVSS1X1/AltSelfService Modification or Addendum to Request for Proposals In the event it becomes necessary to revise any part of this RFP, a modification/addendum will be published on the ColoradoVSS, web page at: https://codpa vss.hostams.com/webapp/PRDVSS1X1/AltSelfService It is incumbent upon Offerors to carefully and regularly monitor ColoradoVSS for any such postings.

Invitation To Submit Proposals OIT is posting this RFP on ColoradoVSS S so that Offerors who have an interest may submit a proposal in accordance with terms of this RFP. Please read and be aware of the administrative information attached to this RFP.

Purpose This RFP provides prospective Offerors with sufficient information to enable them to prepare and submit proposals for consideration to satisfy the need for expert assistance in the completion of the scope of this RFP.

Scope This RFP contains the instructions governing the proposal to be submitted and the material to be included therein; mandatory requirements must be met to be eligible for consideration.

Structure of this Request for Proposals The State of Colorado Solicitation Instructions and Terms and Conditions linked through the ColoradoVSS Solicitation Page govern, except as modified or supplemented in these instructions.

Official Means of Communication During the solicitation process for this RFP, all official communication will be via notices on ColoradoVSS. Notices may include any modifications to administrative or performance requirements, answers to inquiries received, clarifications to requirements, and the announcement of the awarded Offeror(s). It is incumbent upon Offeror to carefully and regularly monitor ColoradoVSS for any such notices.

Inquiries Unless otherwise noted, prospective Offerors may make written or electronic mail inquiries concerning this RFP to obtain clarification of requirements. E-mail is the preferred method for Offerors to submit inquiries. No inquiries will be accepted after the date indicated in the Schedule of Activities section of this RFP.

Inquiries shall be made to the sole point of contact as listed on the Request for Proposals Signature Page.

Clearly identify your inquiries by referencing the RFP number. Where appropriate include references to RFP section, paragraph and/or question numbers; using page numbers as references is problematic because not all printers number the pages consistently.

Response(s) to Offerors' inquiries (if required) will be published as a modification(s) on the ColoradoVSS S system in a timely manner. Offeror should not rely on any other statements, either written or oral, that alter any specification or other term or condition of this RFP. Offerors are responsible for monitoring ColoradoVSS for publication of modifications to this solicitation.

No Pre-Proposal Conference No Pre-Proposal Conference will be held pertaining to this RFP.

Offeror Registration Offeror registration (ColoradoVSS Registration) MUST be current to be awarded a solicitation.

Vendor Identification The tax identification number provided must be that of Offeror responding to the RFP. Offeror must be a legal entity with the legal right to contract in the State of Colorado and shall be the entity that is used to determine Offeror registration status.

Parent Company If Offeror is owned or controlled by a parent company, the name, main office address and parent company’s tax identification number shall be provided in the proposal.

Modification Or Withdrawal of Proposals Proposals may be modified or withdrawn by Offeror prior to the established due date and time.

News Releases News releases or contact with media representatives pertaining to this RFP or concerning any Offeror’s proposal shall NOT be made prior to execution of the contract without prior written approval by the State.

Certification of Independent Price Determination

Proprietary/Confidential Information Any restrictions on the use or inspection of material contained within the proposal shall be clearly stated in the proposal itself; written requests for confidentiality shall be submitted by Offeror with its proposal. Offeror must state specifically what elements of the proposal are to be considered confidential/proprietary.

Confidential/Proprietary information must be readily identified, marked and separated/packaged from the rest of the proposal. Co-mingling of confidential/proprietary and other information is not acceptable. Neither a proposal, in its entirety, nor proposal price and/or rate information will be considered confidential and proprietary. Any information that will be included in any resulting contract cannot be considered confidential.

The Governor’s Office of Information Technology, Procurement Director and or delegate will make a written determination as to the apparent validity of any written request for confidentiality. In the event OIT does not concur with Offeror’s request for confidentiality, a written determination will be sent to Offeror. If the request is denied, Offeror will have an opportunity to withdraw its entire proposal, or remove the confidential and or proprietary restrictions. Ref. Section 24-72-200.1 et. seq., Colorado Revised Statutes (“C.R.S.”) as amended, the Colorado Open Records Act (“CORA”).

RFP Response Material Ownership All material submitted regarding this RFP becomes the property of the State of Colorado. As such, the State of Colorado may retain or dispose of all copies as is lawfully deemed appropriate. Proposals may be reviewed by any person after the "Notice of Intent to Make an Award" letter has been issued, subject to the terms of C.R.S. Title 24, Article 72, Part 2 as amended. The State of Colorado has the right to use any or all information/material presented in reply to the RFP, subject to limitations outlined in Section 1.17 - Proprietary/Confidential Information. Offeror expressly agrees that each The State of Colorado may use the materials for all lawful purposes, including the right to reproduce copies of the material submitted for purposes of evaluation, and to make the information available to the public in accordance with the provisions of Colorado Open Records Act.

Acceptance of RFP Terms A proposal submitted in response to this RFP shall constitute a binding offer. Acknowledgment of this condition shall be indicated by the autographic signature of Offeror or an officer of Offeror, legally authorized to execute contractual obligations. It is assumed by Offeror's response that it acknowledges all terms and conditions of this invitation for an offer. An Offeror shall identify clearly and thoroughly any variations between its proposal and this RFP. Failure to do so shall be deemed a waiver of any rights to subsequently modify the terms of performance, except as outlined or specified in the RFP.

Proposal Content Acceptance The contents of the proposal (including persons specified) of the successful Offeror will become contractual obligations of Offeror if a contract ensues. Failure of the successful Offeror to accept these obligations in a resulting contract may result in cancellation of the award and such Offeror may be removed from future solicitations.

Contractual Obligations of RFP Documents The contents of the proposal and the terms of this RFP will become contractual obligations of the successful Offeror(s). This RFP consists of all documents listed under the Table of Contents and are hereby referenced and incorporated herein. “The State of Colorado Solicitation Instructions and Terms and Conditions” linked to the ColoradoVSS Notice on the website shall govern, except as modified or supplemented within the RFP. The final contract shall provide the order of precedence of all related documents, in the following order: Colorado Special Provisions, contract, exhibits, RFP and Offeror’s response.

In responding to this RFP, Offerors agreeing to abide by the requirements of this RFP are also agreeing to abide by all terms and conditions contained herein, so Offerors shall identify or seek to clarify any problems with contract language or any other document contained within this RFP packet through their written inquiries about the RFP or within their proposal. Any proposed changes or objections to the contract language or other documents must be submitted as a part of Offeror’s proposal. Each change or exception shall be presented in the form of proposed alternative or substitute language. General objections, to be negotiated subsequent to the award, will not be accepted. Exceptions to the State of Colorado Special Provisions, attached to the contract, will not be accepted. Failure of the successful Offeror(s) to accept these obligations may result in cancellation of the award.

Contract Except as modified herein, the Model Contract included in this RFP (Exhibit C) shall govern this procurement and is hereby incorporated by reference.

Legislative Changes The State of Colorado reserves the right to amend the contract in response to legislative changes.

Order of Precedence In the event of any conflict or inconsistency between terms of this RFP and Offeror’s proposal, such conflict or inconsistency shall be resolved, first, by giving effect to the Colorado Special Provisions, contract, exhibits, RFP, and Offeror’s response.

Venue The parties agree that venue for any action related to performance of the contract shall be in the City and County of Denver, Colorado.

Statewide Contract Management System (“CMS”) For all contracts resulting from this solicitation, Contractor agrees to be governed, and to abide, by the provisions of CRS §24-102-205, §24-102-206, §24-103-601, §24-103.5-101 and §24-105-102 concerning the monitoring of vendor performance on state contracts and inclusion of contract performance information in a statewide contract management system.

OIT shall evaluate, review and rate Contractor’s performance for all contracts resulting from this solicitation, for any contracted amount.

Offeror Proposed Terms and Conditions Except as specified in Offeror’s proposal, the submission of Offeror’s proposal will indicate its acceptance of the terms and conditions of this RFP. Offerors must disclose in their proposals terms and conditions or required clarifications of terms and conditions consistent with these instructions. The State reserves the right to clarify terms and conditions not having an appreciable effect on quality, price/cost risk or delivery schedule during post-award formalization of the contract.

Ownership of Contract Products All products produced in response to the contract resulting from this RFP will be the sole property of the State of Colorado. Any exceptions must be outlined in detail. Exceptions may serve as cause for rejection of the proposal.

Proposal Pricing Estimated proposal prices are not acceptable. Offers submitted must include all related costs (e.g. hardware, software, licensing, surcharges, travel, etc.). Any costs not included as part of the offer will be disallowed. Pricing must be in U.S. funds. Best and final offers may be considered in determining the successful Offeror. Proposals shall be firm for a period of not less than one hundred eighty (180) calendar days from date of award.

Contract Term This RFP may result in a multiple year contract(s); estimated term is stated in the Schedule of Activities. The initial contract(s) will be effective upon approval by the State Controller or designee. The contract performance contemplated herein shall commence as upon the effective date of the resulting contract(s) and shall be undertaken and performed in the sequence and manner set forth therein.

Late Proposals Late proposals will not be accepted. It is the sole responsibility of Offeror to ensure that its proposal arrives in the designated office prior to the date and time as specified on ColoradoVSS.

Rejection of Proposals OIT reserves the right to reject any or all proposals, to waive informalities and minor irregularities in proposals received, and to accept any portion of a proposal or all items proposed if deemed in the best interest of the State.

Estimated Quantities Quantities where provided are estimates only; no volumes can be guaranteed.

Number of Awards The State intends to award one or more awards/contracts as a result of this RFP.

Agreement Execution Timely execution of the Model Contract is of utmost importance. The State will attempt to work with the awarded Offeror to enter into a contract. The State reserves the right to cancel the award and contract negotiations at any time, and award the selection or selections to other successful Offeror(s) if doing so is determined to be in the best interest of the State.

Incurring Costs The State of Colorado shall not be liable for any costs incurred by Offerors prior to issuance of a legally executed contract. No property interest of any nature shall accrue until a contract is awarded and signed by all concerned parties and approved by the State Controller.

Taxes The State of Colorado, as purchaser, is exempt from all federal excise taxes under Chapter 32 of the Internal Revenue Code (Registration No. 84-730123K) and from all state and local government use taxes C.R.S. 39-26-114(a). The Colorado State and Local Sales Tax Exemption Number is 98-02565. Offerors are hereby notified that when materials are purchased in certain political sub-divisions (for example, City and County of Denver) the seller of such materials may be required to pay sales tax even though the ultimate product or service is provided to the State. This sales tax will not be reimbursed by the State.

Insurance The awarded Offeror(s) shall obtain, and maintain at all times during the term of the contract, insurance in the kinds and amounts outlined in the linked ColoradoVSS S State of Colorado Solicitation Instructions/Terms and Conditions and the attached Model Contract .

Cyber Security The awarded Offeror(s) shall comply with the State of Colorado Cyber Security Policies:

http://oit.state.co.us/ois/policies . All responses to this solicitation will be evaluated, in part, according Offerors agreement with the Cyber Security Policies.

Executive Governance Committee (EGC) The selected vendor shall be required to comply with the State Of Colorado Executive Governance Committee (EGC) Gate Methodology and plan for all EGC Gate items to be included as part of the overall project plan.

Cloud projects Network Security. Contractor agrees at all times to maintain network security that at a minimum includes network firewall provisioning, intrusion detection, and regular (two or more annually) third party vulnerability assessments. Likewise, Contractor agrees to maintain network security that conforms to generally recognized industry standards and best practices that Contractor then applies to its own network.

Application Security. Contractor agrees at all times to provide, maintain, and support the System and subsequent updates, upgrades, and bug fixes such that the System is, and remains secure from those vulnerabilities as described in: a) The Open Web Application Security Project’s (OWASP) “Top Ten Project” – see http://www.owasp.org; or b) The CWE/SANS Top 25 Programming Errors – see http://cwe.mitre.org/top25/ or http://www.sans.org/top25-programming-errors/; or c) Other generally recognized and comparable industry practices or standards.

Data Security. Contractor agrees to preserve the confidentiality; integrity and accessibility of State data with administrative, technical, and physical measures that conform to generally recognized industry standards and best practices that Contractor then applies to its own processing environment. Maintenance of a secure processing environment includes but is not limited to the timely application of patches, fixes, and updates to operating systems and applications as provided by Contractor. All State Confidential Information and State data of any kind shall be stored, processed, or transferred only in or to facilities located within the United States.

Telegraphic/Electronic Responses Telegraphic or electronic ColoradoVSS (Fax, Western Union, Telex, e-mail, etc.) cannot be accepted as a sealed proposal. Offerors are urged to read the solicitation document thoroughly before submitting a proposal.

Administrative Review Factors – Pass/Fail Offerors must demonstrate in writing their ability and willingness to comply with the mandatory/core minimum requirements found in Section 3.1 to be considered responsive to this RFP. These items are judged on a pass or fail basis and must be satisfied in their entirety in order for Offeror’s response to be considered for further review by the State’s evaluation committee (“Evaluation Committee”).

Cooperative Purchasing In order to address the requirements of, and as part of OIT’s effort to address the requirements of 24-37.5-106(1)(h), this solicitation and the resulting contract(s) shall be a cooperative purchasing agreement, pursuant to 24-110-101 et seq. All Executive Branch state agencies are included in this solicitation and any resulting contract. Legislative and Judicial Branch agencies, institutions of Higher Education, and local governments may participate. OIT will be the primary state party to the contract, pursuant to 24-37.5-105(3)(i).

RFP Cancellation The State reserves the right to cancel this entire RFP or individual phases at any time, without penalty.

Protested Solicitations and Awards Any actual or prospective Offeror who is aggrieved in connection with the solicitation or award of a contract may protest to the Governor’s Office of Information Technology (OIT), Procurement Director, 601 E 18th Ave., Suite 250, Denver, CO 80203. The protest must be submitted in writing within seven (7) working days after such aggrieved person knows, or should have known, of the facts giving rise thereto. Reference C.R.S., Title 24, Article 109.

Audit The State reserves the right to require that the successful Offeror(s) has a process audit conducted of its program at least once every three (3) years. If the successful Offeror(s) has not had such an audit prior to awarding of this contract, and the State requires one, then an audit must begin within six months of the award of this contract. The State reserves the right to approve the selected firm. A complete copy of the audit must be provided to the Governor’s Office of Information Technology within five (5) working days of its completion. The Governor’s Office of Information Technology will negotiate directly with the successful Offeror(s) regarding any exceptions or findings from the audit.

Organizational Conflict of Interest—Requirements of this RFP and Subsequent Contract Any business entity or person is prohibited from being awarded a contract if the business entity or person has an “Organizational Conflict of Interest” with regard to this solicitation and the resulting contract.

No person or business entity who was engaged by the State to prepare the original RFP or has access prior to the solicitation to sensitive information related to this procurement process (including, but not limited to requirements, statements of work, or evaluation criteria), will be eligible to directly or indirectly submit or participate, directly or indirectly in the submission of a proposal for this solicitation. The State considers such engagement or access to be an Organizational Conflict of Interest, which would cause such business entity or person to have an unfair competitive advantage.

If the State determines that an Organizational Conflict of Interest exists, the State, at its discretion, may cancel the contract award. In the event the successful Offeror was aware of an Organizational Conflict of Interest prior to the award of the contract and did not disclose the conflict to the procuring agency, the State may terminate the contract for default. The provisions of this clause must be included in all subcontracts for work to be performed by subcontractors in connection with the performance of the contract, with the terms “contract,” “contractor,” and “contracting officer” modified appropriately to preserve the State’s rights.

HEALTH INSURANCE PORTABILITY AND ACCOUNTABILITY ACT OF 1996 (HIPAA)

The Implementers warrants that it is familiar with the requirements of HIPAA, as amended by the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act (HITECH Act) of 2009, and accompanying regulations and will comply with all applicable HIPAA requirements in the course of this Contract. Implementer warrants that it will cooperate with the State in the course of performance of the Contract so that both the State and the Implementers will be in compliance with HIPAA.

If requested, the Implementers agrees to sign a “HIPAA Business Associate Addendum” and to abide by the statements addressing the creation, use and disclosure of confidential information, including information designated as protected health information and all other confidential or sensitive information as defined in policy.

STATEWIDE CONTRACT MANAGEMENT SYSTEM

For all contracts resulting from this solicitation, contractor agrees to be governed, and to abide, by the provisions of CRS §24-102-205, §24-102-206, §24-103-601, §24-103.5-101 and §24-105-102 concerning the monitoring of vendor performance on state contracts and inclusion of contract performance information in a statewide contract management system. OIT shall evaluate, review and rate contractor performance for all contracts resulting from this solicitation, for any contracted amount.

PERFORMANCE OUTSIDE THE STATE OF COLORADO AND/OR THE UNITED STATES

All service contracts must contain a clause that require suppliers to provide written notice within 20 days (from deciding or actual) if they anticipate, perform or subcontract any services outside the United State or Colorado.

If the supplier knowingly fails to provide notification the contract may be terminated.

E-Verify and Colorado Department of Labor and Employment Program.

Effective May 13, 2008, contractors who enter into a public contract for services with Colorado state agencies or political subdivisions must participate in either the federal E-Verify program, or the newly created Colorado Department of Labor and Employment Program (Department Program). The option to enroll in the new Department Program instead of E-Verify was created by Colorado State Senate Bill 08-193, which amended the Public Contracts for Services and Illegal Alien Laws, C.R.S. 8-17.5-101 and 102.

Doing Business in Colorado An Offeror wanting to do business in Colorado must register with the Colorado Secretary of State in accordance with Colorado Revised Statute (CRS) 7-90-801. An Offeror must be registered to do business in Colorado within 10 business days of the RFP award notification to the Apparent Successful Offeror. A copy of the business entity’s Articles of Incorporation and/or Bylaws may be requested by the State.

This is the link for the Colorado Secretary of State’s Website: http://www.sos.state.co.us (Recommend going to the “Business Center” section, then opening the “Business Home” page, under the “General Information” section review the FAQs.)

Federal Employer Identification Number (FEIN) For the purpose of verifying the Offeror’s registration to the ColoradoVSS system, the Offeror is required to provide their FEIN in their proposal. Additionally, Offerors are required to submit their FEIN prior to contract, or purchase order issuance, or payment from the State of Colorado. A W-9, Taxpayer Identification form provided by the State may be required as. Only the Awarded Offeror is required to submit a W-9, to the State upon request.

Liquidated Damages Any contract resulting from this RFP shall include liquidated damages as an assurance of timely completion and not as a penalty. Specific damages will be part of the negotiation process and are to be established for all itemized deliverables as identified in the resulting contract. The amount will be reasonable and not disproportionate to the damages anticipated at the point of contract.

Background and Overview Introduction This request for proposal is to procure Telecommunications and Voice Services for the State of Colorado Overview, Background and Fundamental Tenets

OVERVIEW

This Request for Proposal is being issued for Telecommunications and Voice Services which includes Domestic and International Long Distance, Local Access, Calling Card, Operator Assistance, Audio & Web Teleconferencing, Hosted Interactive Voice Response, ISDN/PRI, DSS, DSL, MEL and POTs services. The principal agency for this RFP is the Governor’s Office of Information Technologies (OIT) and all other State of Colorado executive branch departments. The State’s current provider is providing access to long distance services via T-1, ISDN/PRI, switched services, custom calling cards, and operator assistance to State entities. The State of Colorado’s current contract for these services will expire on June 30, 2015.

BACKGROUND

The State of Colorado owns, administers, and is provided as hosted solutions voice and data switching and transmission networks supporting state functions. By State statute, OIT is responsible for providing telecommunications and voice services to all executive branch agencies. Therefore all State agencies must purchase toll and voice services through OIT. OIT has its own billing system whereby clients who subscribe to OIT services are billed monthly.

The State of Colorado’s current network operates PBX’s, key systems, 1FB and standard business lines throughout the state. The current information available regarding the number of lines and minute usage is listed in Exhibit A Current Network.

Services procured under the resulting award(s) from this solicitation may be ordered separately by State institutions of higher education, local governments, cities, towns, counties, etc. The successful offeror(s) will be responsible to administer and bill services directly to those ordering entities.

The State of Colorado has a hosted MPLS based wide area network referred to as the Colorado State Network (CSN). In the next few years, the State intends to use the CSN to carry significant amounts of the State’s data, voice, and video traffic. The successful vendor(s) from this solicitation should be aware that in-state long distance volumes may be reduced once the CSN starts carrying more voice service across the state and that PBX trunking for long distance service may require reconfiguration to accommodate the state CSN network design.

FUNDAMENTAL TENETS

The purpose of this Request for Proposals (RFP) is to solicit proposals on behalf of State of Colorado agencies, local governments and political subdivisions, schools (K-12) and institutions of higher education for Domestic and International Long Distance rates, Calling Card, Operator Assistance, and Inbound Toll Free Calling Services and other services as outlined in this request. This solicitation provides the opportunity for offerors to propose providing these services as defined in one or all of these three Service categories: Category I – Voice Services, Category II – Audio & Web Teleconferencing Services, and Category III – DSL Services.

Contracts and/or Price agreement(s) that will result from this procurement will be on a statewide basis. It is the State’s intention to award to one or more qualified vendors for each Service Category. All State agencies must purchase services through the Governor’s Office of Information Technology. Other public entities may purchase services directly from the awarded vendor.

Category I – Voice Services

Local Calling Services

Domestic and International Long Distance Calling Services

Toll Free Calling Services

ISDN/DSS Services (PRI/BRI)

POTs, Analog trunks, OPX, 1MB & 1FB Services or Alternative Services

Metropolitan Extension Line Services

Hosted Interactive Voice Response Services, Notification Services and Call Routing

Category II – Conferencing Services (See Exhibit B for Required Feature/Functionality)

Audio Teleconferencing Services

Web Teleconferencing Services

Category III – Digital Subscriber Line Services(See Exhibit D for Requirements) xDSL Services

DEFINITIONS

“Competitive Range” is defined as offerors who meets all the mandatory specifications of the Request for Proposal and whose score on evaluation factors is sufficiently high to qualify that offeror for further consideration by the Evaluation Committee.

“Contractor” shall mean the successful offeror.

“Desirable” The terms “may”, “can”, “should”, “preferably”, or “prefers” identify a desirable or discretionary item or factor. Additional points may be awarded to the offerors for each desirable item requested and proposed.

“Evaluation Committee” means a body appointed to perform the evaluation of offeror proposals.

“Flat Rate Pricing” means single rate for telephone services, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 356 days a year.

“Internet Protocol” (IP) means a connectionless-mode network service protocol. IP enables the entities in a network to communicate by providing IP address and by numbering and sending TCP data packets over the network.

“ISDN” means Integrated Services Digital Network, an international communications standard for sending voice, video and data over digital lines.

“Local Exchange Carrier” (LEC) means the local dial tone provider.

“Local Government” or “Local Governmental Entity” refers to any local governmental entity, including City & County of Denver, and other cities, towns, counties, K-12 schools, libraries, etc. Also referred in this RFP as “political subdivisions”.

“Mandatory” The terms “must”, “shall”, “will”, “is required”, or “are required”, identify a mandatory item or factor. Failure to meet mandatory item or factor will result in the rejection of the offeror’s proposal.

“Optional” shall refer to a component or service to be proposed and possibly awarded under this solicitation. Optional will not be evaluated for the purpose of awarding a contract from this solicitation.

“Order” shall refer to any purchase order, contract, or other authorized agreement used to order the services priced in this price agreement. An order amended consistent with the requirements of any state agency, department, institution, or political subdivision shall also be governed by the same terms and conditions. All orders placed by any State agency, as defined below, must be routed through and authorized by Division of Information Technologies.

“Ordering Entity,” means the State agency, department, institution, or political subdivision that places an order.

“PIC/LPIC” refers to the Presubscribed Interexchange Carrier – the long distance carrier assigned to the facility.

“Political Subdivision” refers to any local governmental entity, including City & County of Denver, and other cities, towns, counties, K-12 schools, libraries, etc. Also referred in this RFP as “local government” or “local governmental entities”.

“PRI” means Primary Rate Interface.

“Price Agreement” is the document that allows any State agency, department, institution, or political subdivision (local government) within Colorado to use the vendor on award.

“Private Branch Exchange” means a private telephone switch, that provides for the transmission of calls internally and to and from the public telephone network.

“Purchase Order” means the document which directs a contractor to deliver items of tangible personal property or services pursuant to an existing contract.

“Request for Proposals” or “RFP” means all documents, including those attached or incorporated by reference, used for soliciting proposals.

“Responsible Offeror” means an offeror who submits a responsive proposal and who has furnished, when required, information and data to prove that their financial resources, production or service facilities, personnel, service reputation, and experience are adequate to make satisfactory delivery of the services or items of tangible personal property described in the proposal.

“Responsive Offer” or “Responsive Proposal” means an offer or proposal, which conforms in all material respects to the requirements set forth in the request for proposals. Material respects of a request for proposals include, but are not limited to, price, quality, quantity, or delivery requirements.

“Service Rates” means rates charges for the following defined types of service:

“SMDR” shall mean Station Message Detail Record.

“State agency” shall mean any department, agency, or institution of higher education of the State of Colorado, not including political subdivisions of the State of Colorado.

“State Purchasing Office” shall mean the State of Colorado, Division of Finance and Procurement, State Purchasing Office.

“T-1” means the facility used to provide 24 voice channels multiplexed onto a single cable. This dedicated phone connection supports data rates of 1.544 mbps.

“The contract” or shall refer to the integrated agreement consisting of this solicitation document and the offeror’s proposal and any attachments to either of these documents.

Proposal Requirements and Statement of Work MANDATORY Requirements Technical functional requirements The following are mandatory pass/fail requirements under this RFP. Any proposed Solution which does not meet all of the requirements below shall be deemed non-compliant, and will no longer be eligible to continue in the evaluation process. Offerors shall specify that their proposed Solution is compliant (Yes) or non-compliant (No) with each requirement listed below (or in the associated Exhibit).

Licensed Carrier The offeror must be a facilities based carrier licensed by the Colorado Public Utilities Commission to provide intrastate (intralata) long distance and operator assisted calling and by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to provide interstate (interlata) and international long distance and operator assisted calling for Colorado state and local government agencies and subdivisions and universities. Offeror must submit evidence of licensing with their proposals.

Required Offeror’s Response Yes/No Service Area Capability For each service type in each Category of Service being proposed, offeror must describe their ability to provide such services for Colorado state entities. Offeror must describe the types of access that are available for all services.

Required Offeror’s Response Yes/No

Grade of Service-P.001 Offeror is required to have sufficient capacity to accommodate the provided traffic. The State strongly prefers offerors who can assure a P.001 Grade of Service or better. This requirement must include all the elements of placing a call (access, transport, egress). A detailed written description of capacity and grade of service are required in any proposal submitted.

Required Offeror’s Response Yes/No

Billing Duration Offeror must describe in detail the algorithm(s) used to determine billing increments for call duration. For example: at what fraction of a minute is a call rounded up to a full minute for billing purposes.

Required Offeror’s Response Yes/No

Positive Answer Supervision Offerors must provide positive answer supervision. Describe in detail the process of initiating and terminating call billing. Offerors must provide actual call set up time, ring time, and circuit take down time that relates to the proposed services offered. The State of Colorado prefers to pay for time between connect and disconnect only, not for set up, ring or circuit down time.

Required Offeror’s Response Yes/No

Colorado Areas Covered & Required Dialed Digits This RFP is seeking cost effective long distance services for all agencies. The offeror must provide a service coverage map of the State of Colorado service areas, describing how services are provided (e.g., PIC/LPIC, T-1, PRI, no service) for the service areas and provide a listing or map of all locations NOT covered. At a minimum, offerors must provide appropriate T-1 service to the State and other local governmental entities for such service that currently occurs at locations outlined in Exhibit A.

Currently one (1) + ten (10) digit dialing is available at most agency locations for domestic calls. State entities prefer not to dial additional digits to complete domestic voice and video long distance calls. Offeror should indicate if it will be necessary to dial additional digits to complete domestic voice and video long distance calls. If offeror cannot provide 1 + ten (10) digit dialing, the proposed dialing pattern should be indicated and the areas indicated on the coverage map by location and service type.

Required Offeror’s Response Yes/No

Network Design Offeror must provide an engineering design that details the method by which the proposed services will be delivered locally, nationally and internationally, as offered. Proposals submitted must include service area maps. In addition, offeror must describe in detail the following:

· Network redundancy that is available in offerors’ network,

· Average downtime documented for the proposed network in the last two years,

· Procedure and time-interval for customer notification when a circuit and or network goes into alarm and status of resolution,

· Methods and time frames involved in restoring or re-routing network traffic

· Mean Time Between Failure (MTBF).

Yes/No

Operator Services Offeror must describe how they propose to offer operator services. State entities desire that the offeror’s operator service have the capability of providing customized dialing instructions. This would include the ability to instruct the callers on the correct method of placing calls from each site. These instructions may include the correct way to place emergency calls, rates, and other site-specific information. Offerors must describe in narrative form how they would meet this requirement. Please include: LEC/BOC, collect and third party charged to non-offeror customer telephones and offeror customer telephones. In addition any costs or discounts associated with this service must be described and included in the Detailed Cost Proposal Format Exhibit E of the proposal submitted.

Required Offeror’s Response Yes/No

Foreign Language Translation The offerors’ operator services must provide the ability to communicate with the caller in languages other than English, particularly Spanish. Additional evaluation points will be assigned to vendors who provide foreign language translations in other languages. Please list all languages that are available, in addition any costs or discounts associated with this service must be described and included in the Detailed Cost Proposal Format Exhibit E of the proposal submitted.

Required Offeror’s Response Yes/No

In-bound Toll Free Services Offerors must agree and describe how in-bound toll free services will be provided. In addition, any costs or discounts associated with this service must be described and included in the Detailed Cost Proposal Format Exhibit E of the proposal submitted.

Required Offeror’s Response Yes/No

Directory Assistance Access:

Offeror must describe the method used to place a call to Directory Assistance for all domestic and international calls; in addition, any costs or discounts associated with this service must be described and included in the Detailed Cost Proposal Format Exhibit E of the proposal submitted. Offerors may contract with another vendor if doing so results in a lower rate. Please list third party affiliation in Exhibit E—Detailed Cost Proposal Format.

Required Offeror’s Response Yes/No

On-Network Calls The State agencies and other procuring entities are desirous of implementing a network that is capable of completing on-net to on-net calls from one enrolled contract site to another enrolled contract site via dedicated access. Offerors should describe in detail how the proposed network design and services would complete these types of calls and the process involved to provision. In addition, any costs or discounts associated with this service must be described and included in the Detailed Cost Proposal Format Exhibit E of the proposal submitted.

Required Offeror’s Response Yes/No

Calling Card Offerors proposing to offer Interstate (Interlata) services must describe how they propose to offer customized calling card services including types of services offered and the procedure for custom designed cards. Offeror must state the company that will handle the calling card call, the service area(s) in which the calling card can be used, the types of calls that can be placed, and the required dialing pattern(s) from a public pay telephone, domestic and international telephones. In addition, any costs or discounts associated with this service must be described and included in the Detailed Cost Proposal Format Exhibit E of the proposal submitted.

Required Offeror’s Response Yes/No

International Calls Carrier fees for terminating international calls on cellular telephones must be disclosed. The State expects that that there shall not be fees for terminating international calls on cellular telephones. The State expects 7 x 24 flat rates for all call types, including international calls. However, the Detailed Cost Proposal Format Exhibit E provides the offeror the opportunity to provide time of day and day-of-week discounts.

Required Offeror’s Response…